This blog is devoted to stuff that white people like

#67 Standing Still at Concerts

Music is very important to white people. It truly is the soundtrack to their lives, meaning that white people are constantly thinking about what songs would be on the soundtrack for the biopic. The problem is that most of the music that white people like isn’t really dance-friendly. More often the songs are about pain, or love, or breaking up with someone, or not being able to date someone, or death.

So when white people go to concerts at smaller venues, what to do they do? They stand still! This is an important part of white concert going as it enables you to focus on the music, and it will prevent drawing excess attention to you. Remember, at a concert everyone is watching you just waiting for you to try to start dancing. Then they will make fun of you.

The result is Belle and Sebastian concerts that essentially looks more like a disorganized line of people than a music event.

If you find yourself invited to a concert with a white person, do NOT expect to dance. Prepare yourself for three hours of standing reasonably still. It is also advised to get a beer or (if legal) a cigarette so you have something to do with your hands. Although it is acceptable to occasionally raise one hand and point just above the stage.

The photo is inaccurate, the tallest, stillest white men will stand in the front. It’s a passive aggressive move by white men to keep their women from getting in front of the band, while pretending they are really into the music. The women might hookup with a musician sadder and pastier than they are.

White kids also like to mosh. I am brown and went to a Rage Against the Machine concert. I like to watch the set and jump along with Zach de la Rocha, but the white kids around me instinctualy formed a mosh pit and started to knock each other around. I wanted none of that, got pushed to the back, where I chilled and watched the show

[…] Read it. If you find yourself invited to a concert with a white person, do NOT expect to dance. Prepare yourself for three hours of standing reasonably still. It is also advised to get a beer or (if legal) a cigarette so you have something to do with your hands. Although it is acceptable to occasionally raise one hand and point just above the stage. […]

[…] February 17, 2008 · No Comments I’m feeling prolific this crap Sunday afternoon. I’ve done loads but accomplished little. Although, there is one thing I did accomplish today that I set out to do: build a life soundtrack that wasn’t as easy as pushing the shuffle button on my iPod. This soundtrack is one that I constructed and pondered about. It’s one I’d actually listen to, it’s a “mix tape ” with a theme: Me. I have uploaded the mix and you can push play in the Perma Link Box on the side bar if you’d like to have a listen. And by the way, read this hilarious entry regarding soundtracks from the blog, stuff white people like. […]

Good point, but do you think this may also have to do with the neighborhood you grow up in and how much money you come from? For instance, the white people you describe mainly live in the suburbs, not the rural countryside.

Shoot, all I got to listen to growing up was the sounds transmitted through my radio and tape player.

Old (and young!) country white folks love to dance. And they won’t wait for somebody to start trend.

Oh. And White people really love shady, hole-in-the-wall “dive” bars because it makes them feel like they’re getting some sort of authentic experience. Here they will enjoy PBR by the can or Miller High Life by the bottle. The smokier the better, even if they normally complain about how second hand smoke is a “killer” and a terrible pollutant. They find these bars quaint.

See, the thing is, white people tend to like music worth LISTENING to. Imagine that! Have you tried to listen to non-white dance music? It is some of the most boring, repetative crap on the face of the planet.

Yeah, I get the joke of the site, but I also get the not-so-subtle racism of it, too. However, I see no point to criticize people for only liking music if they can dance to it, because that would imply that everyone who looks at life differently than I do is wrong, or bad, or both.

It’s a pity that those who look at life differently than I do can’t find the same level of civility and maturity.

This is so GODDAMN TRUE. I’m not white, but I’m a big fan of music in general, including a lot of white people music. The most bizarre thing about going to concerts for white people music is this no-dancing phenomenon!

I still dance – I don’t give a damn, if there’s a beat, I’ll dance to it. I was at a DJ Shadow show recently, and NOBODY WAS DANCING. I could not understand – he was mixing funk and hip hop beats, and people were doing -exactly- what you describe – standing still, drinking beer, periodically raising their hands toward the stage.

WHAT?!

This almost made me die laughing.

(Also, I think John’s taking this a little too much to heart. You can dance to any kind of music. I broke it down to a great cover of “Circles” by Soul Coughing at a show I was at last night.)

I’m about as white as you can get. And I love my music, and stereotypically, can’t dance to save my life. So I just sway and clap and groove and god-damn GET INTO IT when the music is good. And I don’t care otherwise. The “worth listening to” comment was not-so-subtly a dig on dance music, which I really don’t like, but I wouldn’t have made it because art is always in the beholder’s mind, and can’t be criticized fairly if you’re not in the camp.

I love satire, too, and I see the humor for folks who don’t think and act like me. And I don’t care if the post(s) are meant in silliness or in disbelief or in mockery. We all like what we like. And we have more in common than we might think.

The writer obviously never has attended a rave or a good underground dance party.
There, white people dance with more spirit than blacks in America do these days.

Black music used to have grooves worth dancing to, but then in post chronic hip hop…the music devolved into this swishy swishy doink doink bs as well as the almost total absence of a snare. It no longer was about the music either..just the MC going off about his ego munchies…

“Got my mind on my ego, got my ego on my mind”

When I am in hip hop clubs, I see blacks doing what I call the “bird” where they just slowly move up and down and wave their arms like a bird trying to fly while looped on cough syrup. One peep told me that it is due to the fact that its hard to really dance when a “G” is “strapped”. If he really “bust a move”, his gun may go off in his pants and do a 186 on his jimmy.

One cannot go to a hip hop night anymore because some knuckle head always have to bring their gats and start capping rounds. WTF?

Blacks in the UK know what time it is with music…hopefully their American homies will catch up

And keep in mind, this crowd phenom gets fed back into the music biz which then produces acts which succeed solely BECAUSE their music cannot be danced to. White audiences are extremely grateful for and elevate these acts to the heights of overstatement and superlatives. This results in, among other things, the ascent of all sappy, post-feminist, post-Sarah MachLachlan, “I’m-so’sensitive” chick rock* which is generally the musical equivalent of “Do you think I’m pretty? …Does this song make my butt look big?”

I love this blog, so many of the observations are dead on about upper middle class overeducated white liberals who like to project an earnest, caring image to the world. I’m certainly guilty of some of the things listed here!

On music, you should add singer/songwriter performances. A small stage, an acoustic guitar, a set list of 5-6 original songs about dreary relationships, throw in a Tom Waits cover and add one or two “upbeat” songs with whimsical humor that ultimately conveys an important life lesson so that by the end of the set we all have a better appreciation of our humanity.

Worst night of my life? Getting dragged to a Dave Matthews concert by a girl I had started dating…..It would eventually lead to a fine break-up, which I got over after many sandwiches, dive bars, 80s nights, breakfast places and appreciation for Steve Nash…..

What about Jimmy Buffett? I got slammed at my college orientation cause I didn’t know who Jimmy Buffett is. The orientation leader asked the group, “Does everybody know who Jimmy Buffett is?” and I was the only one who answered no. I thought he was some important person on campus that I needed to know, and if I didn’t know him, I would find myself in some state of dispair later in the year and *need* to know him.

The orientation leader hunted down a portable stereo and brought it to the room so she could play a Jimmy Buffett CD.

As the music wafted through the room, I thought to myself, “Oh, I get it. I don’t know who he is because he plays music that white people like.” Being black and growing up in a black neighborhood, Jimmy Buffett just doesn’t get any spins on the radio stations I listened to.

I’ve since widened my musical selection, but it still doesn’t include any Jimmy Buffett.

Michael Ventura’s “Hear The Long Snake Moan” on white people not being able to dance. So much of white music is not dance driven. It’s not percussion driven. It’s guitar-lyrics driven, i.e. listen to my words and melody which is ok with me as long as there’s some soul there. I’m Sicilian and won’t ever win any Sat nite fever dance contests, but at least I try to move my wretched ass some. If there’s deep hot as shit grooves in da’ house, I gotta move something, non?

Also, shopping at Target is only acceptable if you pronounce it “Tar-ghey”. Kmart and Walmart are not acceptable, unless you are only shopping there in order to have a meaningful experience connecting with your working class brethren. workers, unite!

The argument that it’s difficult to dance to indie music is a valid one, but the real reason not to dance is that you can’t stand around feeling superior to the other concert-goers if you are yourself having fun. also, you might spill your sparks.

This website just sets you up to make fools of yourselves and use generalisations about various races, the generalisations you claim are so offensive to your own race. Why is it that Americans seem more obsessed by race than any other nation?

Hmmmm…I guess ya’ll have never been to a B-52’s concert. White folks and all sorts of crazy African Americans and Asians and Hispanics are dancin’ up a storm—together! Scarrrryyy!! I think there were other minorities represented there too! LOL!!!! As Disco Chic says, “Keep Dancin’!”
Ciao!

I will take it upon myself to properly interpret every item on this blog which has been intentially written derisively so as to provide humor at the expense of white people (and does a damn good job at it) however nothing is more white then using analytical thinking and logical deduction to counter incorrect assumptions while arguing just for the sake of arguing!

hence:

first of all let me make a disclaimer about this particular discussion. most of the concerts I have been to that involve modern artists have been of the country variety and those people dance like mad, although i realise that the country crowd is not interperted in this blog as it is aimed at parodying a younger urban white sterotype.

however working with the material i have……..

white reticence to ‘shake the booty’ is a strongly engrained cultural mores based on the idea that embarassing behavior is childish or deviant. spastic gyrations are most commonly associated with primative cutures or young children. it was for long considered a sign of refinement to withhold uncontrolled displays of emotion as a sign that one had the abilty to control oneself and not act foolish in public.

modern dancing with its lack of choreographed movement or established patterns is an anethema to a cultural that spent centuries developing intracate well rehearsed waltzes to replace ingrained tendacies to just ‘bust a move’.

this left over tendency is most found in men, young white men were severly trained for eons to harness unexpected bursts of emotion so as to fit in more smoothly within large industrial societies. modern dancing is generally despised by white men and only resorted to as a method to secure the affection of females. this is culturally ingrained behavior. it served white people well over the years and the end of it as a positive personality trait should be a concern to anyone that cares.

Caucasian New York City music lovers have perfected the Buddhist notion of the un-enjoyment of that which gives pleasure. “Erotic City”, for example, clears a Gotham dancefloor within seconds because it is too ‘on the nose’, whereas Laurie Anderson’s ‘O Superman’ never had a dancefloor to begin with and so thus is theoretically much more worthy of an impulse to “dance”.

As an individual who has been to many Dave Matthews concerts I must say that it is much more enjoyable to listen to music without getting into a fight. Although as someone who has been to a lot of metal shows I must say I’d rather attend a gangsta rap show. A least at the rap show I can wear an outfit that allows me to be accepted for the time being versus just getting pumbled

your shit is funny. so funny, in fact, that I almost did a dance. But, quickly sat back down, and then quickly got back up and – danced. I may sound like a white girl, but…my slanty eyes tell me otherwise 😉

Hey, my white ass dances for a LIVING… and I can dance to ANYTHING… literally… so STFU!!
J/P, you had me LMAO the whole time!! Very funny and so true, most (white) music nowadays is crap and even the people who listen to it don’t know quite what to do with it… I was just thinking this morning how Tupac probably can’t believe the music that the rap industry has made popular… who buys this s#!t anyways?? What happened to real music with real meaning? Back in the day…

LMAO! So true- BUT I think it changes with age because I’ve seen a LOT of older white people (like 40 and up) dance at shows more. Granted, it’s not like they’re always on the beat when they’re dancing but it’s better, and a hell of a lot more entertaining to watch, than standing still.

[…] look into stereotypes of what white people like. Expensive sandwiches, motion sensor lights, standing still at concerts, recycling, knowing what’s best for poor people, and many other classic posts. Definitely a […]

Excuse me, whitey, you need to quit posting your ignorant racist bullshit on here. Take that shit to one of those stupid-ass Aryan website. Yeah, you’re not an N,you’re just a big stupid,dumb-ass, racist MF who wouldn’t have the guts to say that shit to a black person’s face because you know your ass would get whipped with the quickness. It’s simple a matter of cultural differences—black folks are simply more interested in expressing who they are through dance, white folks express themselves a different way—end of story. Ny thing, if white folks really believed that their culture is so damn superior, then how come they’re ALWAYS ripping off damn near everybody’s else’s culture–feng shui from the Chinese,kabbalah from the Jewish people, slang/fashion from black folks–funny how everything non-white people do is seen as strange until white people start doing and then it’s oh so cool, so tres chic,” and all that BS.

ANd what’s with that “jungle bunny” shit? I’ve never been to a jungle in my whole dang life. Remember, white folks themselves used to be troglydites scrambling around in caves,while Africans and Chinese folks were inventing things like the abacus and printing some of the first languages in books, so kiss my beautiful black posterior. Personally, I think it’s was a good thing music like rock ‘n roll was invented (by black folks,then ripped off big-time by white folks) so that white people finally had some music they could get loose to and learn not to be so damn uptight. (I’m saying this with tongue in cheek,BTW).

I am a DJ/Producer
I play lots of clubs where E is not really consumed.
Yet, peeps throw down hard when I play.
And my crowd is mostly white.
Why? because I play good records.
Sure I love playing parties where peeps are rolling..
But good dance music will do the job no matter what shape the crowed is in.

I never realized this until I started performing live. Imagine singing and dancing your ass off but every time you look down there are 500 people, just standing there clutching beers, and staring up at you. I was almost in tears by the second set, until the club’s promoter comes over all excited and wanting to book us again. We were so confused, we’d already packed up a good bit of our gear expecting to make a hasty exit.

Doesn’t it depend on the type of concert you go to? I shook it at an Ice Cube and Pixies concert, but didn’t at an Etta James or Chris Isaak concert. Aside from the concerts mentioned, I’ve only been to three others total.

wow that is ridiculous, must not be into rock, punk or metal I might add, especially at a smaller venue
-.- they have this thing called hardcore dancing, yes it looks ridiculous and funny as hell but it is even more fun to start a mosh pit and throw them around, because more than likely hardcore dancers are small as hell hence why they dont mosh, and we are usually big and fat or built or just big, but anyways there is dancing, and whoever made this list is an idiot

oh and comment 91 hey nigger, remember when black people made blues and jazz? and then the white people stole that from you!? and then yall made a new sound called rock n’ roll? the white people stole that from you too! but when white people made up rap and yall stole that from the white people and put yall “urban” influence on it to disguise it, yall think it is awesome, guess what!? rap….is goofy so fuck off dumbass

LOL! This is quite true. I’ve been to many concerts and White people just stand there even when the music is pounding. However, the gay White boys will dance their asses off. Those boys move like there’s no tomorrow.

I don’t go out that often any more (I have a sex life now) but when I do go to see a band, the floor is full of white people..
Admittedly I do live in Australia, so the only black people we see are the natives and they’re happier just getting drunk and starting fights with white people, and also the butt load of Sudanese refugees we have where I live; and they usually like to avoid all interaction with drunk white people like the plague.

What are you smoking? I know I was annoyed by those two stiffs standing motionlessly at a Sum 41 concert, but I didn’t go pointing it out as a stereotype. It is inaccurate and by the way, unproven. You’ve probably made a “good, personnal, objective qualitative assessment about white people,” right?

Yeah – sure you have.

The point is, white people don’t dance – when that’s what you want to think. Black people are thugs – when that’s what you want to think. Asian people are stiff work-aholics – when that’s what you want to think. Stereotypes become self-proven because we perceive our surroundings and store memory to unconsciously objectify our own bias. (“we see what we want to see”)

Completely false. The white people I see at concerts are invariably dancing, particularly when the genre is fairly white music (e.g. zydeco, overwhelmingly white country, extremely white heavy metal, shag/beach music). A stereotype that white folks don’t dance as well as blacks at concerts would make more sense, but not a stereotype that white people don’t dance. This is true at the symphony, which is mostly white, but that’s the nature of the music and the venue.

Never been in concert (expect classical) where people didnt dance. Expectionally there has been cases been that majority didin’t (usually to do with slow beat) but always someone did. Something must be wrong with white folks here.
White people go mad to techo. Or Goth. Or Metal. Or Tango. Or whatever with beat that sounds good and is performed with passion.

well I wen’t to a huge show playing trance music which is a form of electronic music for those of you who don’t know and I’d say a good 90% of the people were dancing to the music including me. White people just need to know what kind of music to listen to that is easier to dance to.

I am an indie music fanatic and you are absolutely right. I dance and don’t care about everyone around me not dancing, who are probably judging me somehow. I went to Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits last year, and the only people of color were on stage.

in america this seems definetely to be true. but you havent been to a gig if youve not been to one in england. over here we dont leave standing space for people. its normal to crack your ribs if your on the barrier etc due to 5000+people squashed in behind you.

sigh. this is sooo true. and if you dance, people get upset at you for moving.

but I get the sense that this is a new thing, and blame the cultural abuses of tv/computers/sitting still and watching rather than acting and participating. I think it is a problem with the kids of this generation. go to an ’80’s band reunion show and 40-yr olds are stiffly freaking out on the dance floor. they are also friendly and more fun.

ive been to enough indie shows in nyc where people dont dance and then i saw lcd soundsystem and when ‘daft punk was playing in my house’ began the club was a dance party. there was not a single person who wasnt dancing. !!! similarly has that same effect. so get some white boys playing dance music and you get some white kids who dance their asses off.

saw yelle the other night – she also had the same effect and had the entirety of knitting factory dancing.

but lets be real – how danceable is the shins music or death cab for cutie (or insert a good chunk of other indie bands).

my problem comes from people who dont dance when bands like !!!, LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, ska bands, etc. play. how on earth do you go to a show like that and just stand there.

This rings true.
Especially since I have actually attended a Belle and Sebastien concert, where I was in fact, the only person dancing.
And I felt the glare of my fellow concert goers.
Although, I do feel this phenomenon may be more linked to fans of Belle & Sebastien, than white people.
This phenomenon may even be regional.
For example, Montreal fans dance a lot at concerts. But it should be pointed out that Montreal audiences are usually comprised mainly of French-Canadians. Quebecois have a lot more joie de vivre, than the white people who inhabit the rest of North America.
Whereas, when I lived in Vancouver BC, I was always the lonely black person dancing alone.

i think people don’t dance because they have low self-esteem and they have low self-esteem because they listen to sad music and then pay a lot to listen to live sad music. and then because of the low confidence level they get all judgemental on someone who appears to be having fun and just wants to enjoy music and dance. let’s face it- people look silly when they dance. ALL people look silly when they dance- especially if they are acting really seriously and know all of the steps. let’s all look silly TOGETHER and be happy and dance and share good music. PEACE!

i’d have to agree that at a lot of concerts white people do a lot more standing still than expressing themselves. however, that is not the case with every white person. i’m from a very musical family and when i go to concerts i am often the dancing minority. just the other night i went to a rock concert and i swear i was the only person dancing. it’s impossible for me not to dance though because i absolutely love live music and feel the need to show my appreciation for the band’s talent by rocking out. i also feel like if i dance maybe some other people will see what they’re missing out on. i mean i had the lead guitarist come up to me and play a few guitar riffs right in my face! it was fucking awesome! what’s the point of going to a fucking concert to see live music if you’re not going to dance?

White people who consider themselves jazz lovers can name only Kenny G. Okay, if pressed, they might mention Dave Brubeck. Mentioning Miles Davis or Thelonious Monk automatically disqualifies them from being members of the White club in good standing.

“Doing the Standing Still” by The Dismemberment Plan ( a band that white people like- see indie rock)

Oh whoa-oh, well the pony was funky
The watusi was kinda smooth
Oh whoa-oh, well the problem with all
Those little dance steps was you had to move
Oh whoa-oh, well they found a brand-new step
And it doesnt take anything to get this groove, uh-huh!

And I dont want no standing still!
And I dont want no standing still
And theyre doing the standing still
And I dont want no standing still! hey!

Oh whoa-oh, well its a sensation
Across the entire nation.
Oh whoa-oh, a hundred million kids
All dancing in suspended animation, hmm
Oh whoa-oh, and if the feelings all right
Well be standing still until the morning light, yeah!

Im not mad, Im just disappointed!
Oh, my aching head.
Uh-huh!
Oh whoa-oh, in Fargo, six or seven kids
Watched the Plan in a strip-mall
I thought they were bored out of their skulls
But it turns out they were having a ball, uh-huh
Oh whoa-oh, well I finally knew
They were doing a brand-new step everybody isnt moving to!

And I dont want no standing still
And I dont want no standing still
And theyre doing the standing still
And I dont want no standing still! yeah!

Sort of true. The only recent concert I went to where people danced was a Dir en Grey concert, and the band was Japanese metal. They were all weeboos, so I think the shear amount of dork and “counter-culture” in the premise overruled the whiteness.

Also, “dancing” to Megadeth is not dancing. That’s called being a loser fulfilling your white love of violence and being hardcore (or attempting to be) by naming a writhing horde of flailing pasty white teenagers a “wall of death”.

conversely, I find this site a delightful foray into Amerikan-White-Suburban ANTHRO-Babble!

Yay!

PS: I’m a white townie who’s lived in Los Angeles, the Boston area, and is now in a black ghetto in Phillie… ah, how wonderful it is to read this site and to laugh at myself! us crackers are so dang silly, aren’t we?

Dude, this is totally inaccurate. We don’t stand still, we do the hipster nod! The hipster nod is very important to show that you’re Really into the Music and you Get It in a way that no one else does! When combined with the Leg Jiggle and Mouthing the Words Not Just to the Stuff on Their New Album but their Old Stuff They Made Before They Sold Out, the Hipster Nod is one of the most powerful forces at white people concerts.

In many regards, I’m a very stereotypical white chick, but I’m opposite on this one. I’m always the one trying to drag my friends/date out onto the floor and dance. It usually pisses me off if my friends won’t dance with me. At a Jackie Greene concert (another thing white people love – white musicians who coopt the blues or other African-American-influenced types of music) and though the entire center of the room was an open dance floor, my friends and I actually got glared at for dancing in the crowd of white people standing still. We even got glared at by the *seated* white people.

[…] Minutes of High Fidelity Since it has been reasonably assumed that white people like:1. standing still at concerts2. vintage3. arts degrees4. gentrification5. indie music 6. plays I think it is important that […]

on your Mos Def blog, I mentioned his tribute concert performed in Ann Arbor, MI. it was very strange… like another world… I’d never seen so many people sitting in their seats at a hiphop concert and yelling at the people who were up dancing to sit down! wait. this is hiphop…. right? no. this is white people “appreciating the intellectual side” of hiphop.

#142 60’s Hippie Dancing? Please, rolling an imaginary ball around in your hands while swaying idiotically is NOT dancing.

I thought white people only danced to entertain everyone else. You know, to make the rest of the world feel better about themselves. In which case, it would make sense not to dance at a concert of other white people. It’s a time for all the terrible dancers to take a break from entertaining people with their epileptic seizure twitches . . . I mean dancing.

In the northeast especially, people love doing the arms folded thing.. that’s why they say “if you can make it in ny, you can make it anywhere.” If you can get those people to move, you can get ANYONE to move.

black white blah blah. This shit is funny, ya’ll need to chill with this “ravers dance better than black people” bullshit. It’s all subjective. Middle/Upper class people tend to just be really insecure and easily lead (i.e target, carbon credits). Just taking a shit on top of the pile!
❤

well, I stand still because I know I cant dance, but i do believe the sole exception for this is mosh pits. I don’t see a lot of non-white people at metal shows, and pretty much exclusively white people in the pit, but i think that’s just what we’ve got

white people also like to sit and watch ambient noise music, often involving one or two bearded guys in ironic hats (not trucker though) twiddling knobs and pressing pedals on very complicated electronics setups, while playing one or two notes on a guitar plugged into the whole setup, and holding the microphone very very close to their mouths and mumbling an incoherent word or sound and looping it with tons of reverb.

I could never stand still at a concert. Not only do I like to dance and actually have some effing fun, I have to constantly stand up and then sit down along with the rest of the crowd who either stand on their seats or are very tall or have massive hairdos….which is very challenging for a 5’5″ white girl.

LOL my friends dragged me to a little rock concert thingie the other week at a dive bar. i dont go to these type of things but they dragged me. everyone just stood there, looking at the band. they played a few songs, and no one moved. no dancing, talking, or anything. it was the dumbest thing. i said, is this what we’re supposed to do, just stand here, looking at the band? and they said, yah. so i turned around and stood there watching the crowd instead. it was more interesting. then left early. yah, im white. but hey i dont do these white things. lol. love this blog.

My little bro is in a band with a bunch of white kids and whenever I go to his gigs and watch the white folks dancing around . . .or half dancing. . .it’s all I can do to keep a straight face.

I noticed that mostly the girls, in their tank tops and jeans and coach handbags do this thing where they kind of sway and swing their heads and do this weird dance with just their arms. . .mostly by rotating their wrists in a circular motion and waving their arms about. Guys just stand around and move their heads to the beat and yell things to their buddies on stage periodically like “I LOVE YOU MAN!!” or “JOE ROCKS MY SOCKS”

It should be noted a small portion of white people, emo/hardcore/punk fanatic kids, these days are not standing still at concerts. rather, they do jig dances in cirlces(especially when in front of the drop kick murphys, a band that can make many white people dance), or simply beat each other up plain and simple while moshing.

When did music have race associated to it ? All races loved and danced to Prince and Michael Jackson – Rap music has changed within the last 10 years and has bad characteristics are associated with the culture, but there are some current pop artist, that all races listen too – Justin Timberlake – he dances well for a white person

This article is about white people basically not knowing how to dance. I think it sounds races to me. I don’t know what they are trying to say but what they ARE saying is irrelevant .It doesn’t make sense to me and this editorial is contedicting and I really don’t understand what it is that I am being told to do. I’m sorry but I don’t understand this assignment.

I’ll admit to not dancing at some concerts (and to being white), but when it’s standing room only, there’s not much else you can do besides jumping on it or throwing my hands in the air like I just don’t care.

This is the dumbest list I have ever seen. This may be true for upper class yuppy aristocratic whites. However if you dirve west just a little bit into Ohio, Kentucky and into the deep south you will find the backbone of this country. Hard working tough blue collar folk who dont give a damn about race. People who love real football real bear and big titties. You can take this list and shove it up your ass.

“The problem is that most of the music that white people like isn’t really dance-friendly.”

While I think that’s true, might there be a subliminal appreciation of that type of music because we don’t feel awkward attempting to dance.

This is where white people struggle when they have a few likes that cross over into R&B or the like. To listen and enjoy, they feel inclined to do a little something something and in doing so make everyone just a wee bit uncomfortable.

White music alleviates that tension and any potential for shenanigans.

Just so you know, your white friends who listen to Belle and Sebastian or Dave Matthews or Iron and Wine, do not represent the majority of white people in America or in general. You have never been to a Gwar concert.

Here’s something sad for you: I was at a Belle and Sebastian concert a couple years ago at the Town Hall in NYC and some girls got up and started dancing when they played one of there more upbeat songs. But it only lasted for a few moments until the venue’s security team intervened and told them that dancing wasn’t allowed!

[…] popular, Saturday Night Fever, and one thing that will always be popular, making fun of middle-aged white people dancing. That’s like mixing all the chemicals under your sink — it’s guaranteed to be a […]

[…] Maybe it was because we were smack dab in the middle of the venue surrounded by super-fans, but the eminently danceable sounds coming from the stage enticed, nay, cajoled, us to tastefully move our bodies. Not in a Sexyback badonkadonk grinding way, but in a more say… tasteful way. Kind of like a cross between the unabashed happy energy of a night with The Hold Steady mixed with the soulful contemplation of a night with Morrissey and a dash of Franz Ferdinand for chutzpah. It was basically the antithesis of entry #67 on the Stuff White People Like blog. […]

The only intelligent thing I’ve read in the comment section is #165. It is true, and it applies to all white people across genres (unlike the vast majority of this entire blog, which specializes in “stuff young upper middle class suburban liberal white kids like”). White people love clapping along at concerts. It doesn’t matter whether it will make the song sound better. They just like to clap. Sure, sometimes it is appropriate. But usually it’s a venue full of white folks figuring out the downbeat of the song–and they want everyone to know they found it. (even if they haven’t…we’ve all stood next to that guy.)

@#29 John Edwards, about white people with hats to ward off the sun: The whiter you are, the more you burn. My grandmother, a redhead, lived up north, stayed out of the sun whenever possible, and still got skin cancer on her nose. A dear friend of mine, a redhead raised during the sun-worshiping 70s, DIED of skin cancer last year at age 42. Not funny.

White people not dancing, though, now that IS funny. A few years ago (Ok, more like 10) I went to a Della Reese concert at the University of Connecticut. After a few songs, she interrupted herself in mid-song to tell us we were supposed to be enjoying ourselves, and if we were going to sit there like rocks, she might as well go home. So people started bobbing their heads a bit.

I haven’t finished reading all 239 posts to see if maybe one other person said this, but my reaction to this one had nothing to do with dancing; it was “DOWN IN FRONT!” It used to be when people stood at concerts other people yelled at them. I think it’s insane that people will stand for entire concerts when they could sit. Plus, how can tell a standing ovation from a normal one? These people will get their just desserts when they all have varicose veins by the time they’re 30.

i used to um….move with the music, until i learned from a guy who knew the rules….eventually we broke up, and I went with someone else…who started to dance. I was embarrassed that he had no sensitivity to the density of the crowd. He was bumping into strangers, and sloshing his drinks on people, dancing like a fool. At least HE was having a good time. Pretty soon he got it in his head that he was going to dance his way through the crowd, to get as close to the stage as possible. I decided that I should follow…and apologized to the people who were clearly offended by his hip action. It was pretty embarrassing…

As a REAL over 40, working class white racist I am personally offended by “whitey” and “anonymous” (racist) posting their crap here.
What the hell did you clowns expect in a blog about “white” people written by a couple of kikes and leftist guilt-junkies.
This is supposed to be HUMOR, so either start laughing or fuck off.
As for the coon who says a white won’t say “nigger” to a black – If you behave like a black man, I’ll call you a black man – if you behave like a nigger I’ll call you one. And no, I won’t get my ass kicked, but someone is almost certainly going to the morgue with a bullet hole in his chest.
And for you self-loathing stains on the white race who get your panties in a twist by the dreaded “N-word” – go fuck yourselves, you aren’t fooling anyone, especially not the “ethnics” you claim to love so much.

Well, I gotta defend white people here…sure, we can be zombies and watch ridiculous main stream bands standing still in concerts, but what about white people flayling our bodies all over the place moshing when we’re out seeing underground punk or metal bands??

I like the way that this website pokes fun at yuppie types and just calls them ‘white people’. as if all of us are the same thing, the same way a racist white guy would refer to anyone else. like everyone of them act exactly the same.

yuppie types have had needed this for so long. i’m so sick of ikea.

it’s a break from the years of ‘white trash’ bashing that we’ve been sitting through for so so long now.

[…] it was one of the more fun shows I’ve been to by myself. We all know that white people like standing still at concerts, but this is not the type of band to do this at. Go stand still at an Iron & Wine show. […]

It has always always perplexed me that some people can sit completely still at a concert while everyone around them is going nuts dancing… or maybe they just really like the sight of my ass in their face?? But serioulsy – how can you not be moved by the music. I’m frightened in general by people that aren’t moved by musci though. Like when you come across that person who says “I don’t really have a favorite kind of music” or “I don’t really listen to music.” What!!!? Makes me think they are lacking in passion. Music moves everyone.

To #85 -> I love dance/trance/electronica and I always dance completely sober. Just get into my own groove. (And I’ve got the moves, I’m not knocking other people out as one person suggested in their post about people that get into their own world when they dance.) I never have and never will do any drugs!!!

I love dancing. I’ll even dance to bad music sometimes just because I want to dance. You can’t stop me once I start dancing. One of my friends said to me once, “You’ll always make me want to dance.” I took that as a compliment.

A lot of my friends love to dance too!

I’m not offended by this post, just merely stating that a lot of people actually do love and enjoy dancing.

You know what–as a black person, i don’t believe that. I see whites moving and dancing at many concerts. It’s not standing still. And I know a lot of white friends who listen to dance, pop, hip-hop, R&B and other genres and dance and move around at those concerts. Maybe this writer went to one where the crowd was standing still.

I’ve been to a lot of shows where my fellow whities, especially my friends who are music snobs and wannabe music snobs don’t dance and get pissed at me for doing so! I hate standing still at concerts, but the author is so right about how often it happens at those type of shows.
The typical nerds who see indie shows have a poor sense of rythym in movement because they never did anything that required timing and usually aren’t very athletic, hence little dancing.
A lot of white people as per the type described in this blog are too afraid of looking like they don’t go out enough. If they started dancing, people around them might start thinking that they didn’t get to many shows and are easily impressed. Maintaing your face in public is very important to the scene kid hipster whitey.

Take it you never been to a metal concert where theres hundreds of white people moshing which is a form of violent dancing go to a machine head concert come back and tell em if white people are standing still.

Someone posted the exception to this ‘non-dance’ rule being a Greatful Dead show….I’d add Gypsy Kings concerts to this list of exceptions.

You’ve not lived the good life, mon amis, until you’ve witnessed scores of 30 something white folks dancing (well, more like swaying gently to keep from spewing their 5 pre-concert Pinot Grigiots) to the intoxicating rhythms of the Gypsy Kings’ 8 trillionth rendition of ‘Bamboleo’.

Moshing is not dancing,it is uncontrolled, violent, and has no purpose. Black and Hispanic people dance with all of their bodies and to the beat of the music. I guess the pit is the white mans attempt at his jungle roots, albeit alittle spastic though.

That was my favorite line as well. I used to go to Phish shows and I was so insecure about dancing. Now I feel like the bigger an idiot I look like the better, because if anyone’s paying more attention to me than the music they really need to get a life. 🙂 Unless of course I’m dancing like a hippie. Then they have full recourse to beat me with a bottle of their favorite microbrew.

Such a complete bunch of arse! What the heck was swing, disco and rave all about? Apart from three and half minutes of white folk gyrations that seemed like fun at the time but in hindsight were a little embarrassing…except swing.

As for those who don’t (as opposed to can’t) dance…they’ll dance when the record company, desperate to sell the next multi-talentless bimbo, tells them to hit the floor.

Why take this so seriously? This is supposed to be self-depricating humour. If you can’t laugh at yourself you should be such uptight assholes.

[…] eerily accurate site Stuff White People Like (check out the full list, including David Sedaris and standing still at concerts, here), reveals the source of his inspiration to the Globe and Mail: I grew up in Riverdale in […]

We agree, and that’s why as serious aficionados of film, we’ve always felt the initial Yardbirds sequence in “Blowup” doesn’t work: those Brits are simply all over the place when they should be concentrating.

Untrue. The tallest, stillest white men are usually seen in the front, corralling their women in front of them so that a) they don’t get crushed by the crowd, b) they don’t wander off and get picked up by another, hipper white male.

[…] Dancing to live music is tons of fun, and there are some super-talented musicians out there who love to play for dancers. Lots of geeks are into music too, but I know I’d rather pay $15 and dance for a band than pay $100 and stand still at a concert. […]

[…] and drummer took the stage. At this point, the entire audience stood up and remained standing, mostly fairly still, for the duration of the concert. My feet hurt after a while. Ben opened with a couple of songs […]

I wonder if the originators of this website ever foresaw that the comments would draw in so many racists. This is the problem with anonymous commenting. People who say really vile things and use racial slurs should be ashamed of themselves. If you’re any kind of decent person you shouldn’t be capable of that type of activity even if no one will find out it was you.

White people can’t dance because there trippin on acid and trying to stay mellow by smoking a bunch of pot. And with all that cotton mouth they start drinking Jack Daniels and get so dam drunk they think they’re dancing but in reality they’re just staggering around drunk-ass trippin!

Non white dance music being repetitive? What is nonwhite dance music? That could be a variety of things…. WHen I think of repetitive crap I think of techno which is W-H-I-T-E.
It’s not attacking people who dont like dance music, it’s poking fun at people who dont move at all in a concert.

I went to a Rolling Stones concert once which was pretty white and the baby boomers were sure getting down.
Moshing cracks me up. Whitew boys cant dance so they decide to bang into each other like cavemen.

I definately wouldnt agree with this one. Hippies dance, at Alternative concerts we jump up and down, we just dont dance at rap or latin concerts…. mainly becuase there isnt more than 10 white people in the place.

Thank you! I just found this site & was shocked that country music and metal were not on the list (or skiing). Very few ethnics at a metal concert. Concerning dancing/standing still at concerts, that is too funny. I’m 45 and have attended hundreds of concerts and don’t care… I dance! I love the music and it makes me move, baby! I think for the most part white people can’t dance. Think of a “white wedding” when the DJ starts up. I’ts the most pathetic & embarrasing site e-ver. And they are my relatives! Fortunately I have some rhythm, having taken many years of dance class as a girl. Thanks-mom! I love metal and the pit. I have a black “mosh pit” toe from one night last year when I didn’t wear my steel toed boots. I bit a guy when he tried to push his way to my coveted front row spot at the Sevendust show at Toad’s Place. I body surfed at Woodstock 94. Its the thrill & exhileration of the danger in being in a hot crowd of sweaty writhing fans. I think most of the dudes think its uncool to dance also, so they stand still and give the horns & headbang. rock on.

For most people (of all races), dancing is a significant challenge because it requires moving gracefully in three-dimensional space. I believe that to be a relatively uncommon ability. (This does not apply to dances with well-defined moves. I’m speaking of spontaneous wiggling.) Rhythm, on the other hand, is easier to grasp for most. (Aside: In my case, I played multiple instruments as a youth. No problems there…)

In the 3-d movement area, I’d say I’m in the 5th percentile at best. To put it another way, I suck at that stuff. It affects my performance in a large number of fields (e.g., carpentry). No big deal… I have other abilities. 🙂

So, dancing is not my preferred mode of self-expression. I won’t say that I never feel propelled by a rhythm, but it stops there. Maybe I’ll tap my foot or bob my head a little bit.

I guess I don’t have much interest in doing something that I can’t *do* well. Is that OK? I’ve seen a lot of resentful comments here about people that sit still “like rocks.” Many are accompanied by psychobabble about how the non-dancers must be “repressed.” Whatever… I think the psychology of our group is more varied than you might guess.

Please, white people do the annoying hippie dance where they wave there arms fluidly (like when you do the wave thing sticking your arm out the window) at concerts that wouldn’t be classified as hippy. That drives me crazy. Having to dodge all the potheads or drunkies just to get to the bathroom.

i think they sort of TRY to dance; that’s what the standing still is. but the music is so inherently non-danceable. there is a hilarious Phish video on youtube of hundreds of poor bastards randomly bobbing up and down, in place, to the noodling, beatless sound.

wow. I am sure that this was meant to be funny. everyone seems to be taking it a bit to far with the f bombs and the n word. I wonder how many people, if put in the same room together, would say these things aloud? it’s crazy to me that people are saying “F white people” or “this isn’t true, and here’s why…”

if this is true then what the hell do you think goes on at metal and hardcore concerts. people go way crazier at these than any other ones. just look up mosh pit, wall of death, circle pit, etc. on youtube.

you forgot “White people like to stand still and say “WHOOO” when the music makes them feel good, but not good enough to dance. White people especially like to stand still at hip hop concerts and call back whatever the MC tells them to. This gives them a feeling of accomplishment and participation.

Only the thought of it. By the way, yours must be the lamest comment ever. Hey, I know, I will push my site about justice equality and truth on a joke website! But, white people do like broad terms like “justice, equality and truth.” Everyone knows that minorities hate these ideas more than anything.

I generally like this site, but this blog is lame, and is essentially saying “White people don’t dance to music…that isn’t meant to be danced to”, retarded.
Another thing : Just because YOU can’t dance to it doesn’t make it un-danceable.

What this post needs are Bill Hicks quotes :
“Real men don’t dance, they drink and swear”

“Women have this theory that you can tell how good in bed a guy is by the way he dances.
I say, what does it matter if he’s any good in bed?
If you see a guy out on the dance floor really into it, and expressing himself in dance, what does it matter how good he is in bed? He’s gay!”

I’ve also a doctorate in international folk dance, and dance the dances of hundreds of ethnicities. My greatest joy is traveling around the world, attending and joining in dances put together by various groups. There have been hundreds (thousands?) of times i have been swept into a riotous dance, and at its conclusion, people will start jabbering away at me in their native tongue, assuming i could speak their language – gosh, i was so fluent in their dance, how could i NOT speak the language.

I’m also the most uncompromising dancer you will ever find.
Try telling me to sit down, because dancing is not acceptable here, and you will get a stunning response!

Huge fan of The Dead, especially on X … 🙂

I think there is a minority of whites who can and do dance. Commingling with perhaps a quarter of a million of these brothers and sisters at a Dead concert is a paradigm warping experience. And fun besides! We all dance!

I’m half-white, and I don’t like dancing under most circumstances. Nor do I see the point of paying good money to stand at a concert. What I prefer to do is to actually sit in the seat I paid for. I must not be white enough.

You know, I attended a Junior League function years ago, and we had to go to Miami (!) to deal with some Hispanic refugees. Some of the girls had names like Justicia, Egualidad, and so forth. Kind of cute and clever to name your kids that way… We told the girls to call us when they were ready to seek jobs as maids.

For the most part I agree. But anyone who has seen a Grateful Dead concert knows this argument to be totally false. Never in one place would you find so many of the whitest, most outdoor loving, shorts wearing, marijuana smoking, organic food loving white people who plaster their cars with bumper stickers from San Fransisco. And ALL of them moved and danced like they were the only ones on the planet. GRATEFUL DEAD FOREVER!

HAHA. You forgot songs about pop’n gangsta bitches and ho’s. ..And gacks and $100 bills and Cristal. I mean, really. Who needs sappy songs about love and pain and break-ups and the daily trials and tribulations of the normal educated masses??!

..Oh, wait. I do! I love Radiohead and Coldplay, and don’t even get me started on the great sea of sappy 70’s, 80’s and 90’s rock love ballads! I’ll take the Nelsons or Motley Crue (their soft and wild side) and Kansas and Fleetwood Mac anyday. Though, I also appreciate every now and then some good old Snoop Dogg!

Though Boony, you forgot that African rain dancing is a tribal ritual (performed in the bush, in Africa). …And the author of this blog is most likely not a tribal African. …Nor 99% of the black people who attend concerts and prefer hip-hop over rock music in the U.S. So the chances of them huddling together in a circle hoo’ing and haww’ing to summon the rain is highly unlikely.

Actually, I think there’s a much higher emphasis on race in Europe. I’ve been to various countries in Europe, and race (especially since I am black) seems to be so much more of an issue. That’s because there’s so little racial/cultural diversity in any given country. The more north you get, the less and less one’s chances are of ‘blending in’.

I, personally, do not focus on color or the lack of. But it’s nearly impossible to escape the poorly-informed majority that do.

This site/blog DOES actually exist. I stumbled upon it this weekend (I’m sure I’m pretty late/behind with all these “Stuff ___ People Like” blogs. But, they’re pretty funny none the less.
I’m black. And, still, I found most of the things on that site (just like on this site) wildly exaggerated and stereotyped.

And in the end, after spending an hour or so being compelled to read all of the comments, I couldn’t help but bust out loud with a great big laugh. ..Then nod my head and say/think, “how sad.” ..But still funny.

I guarante you will be on the floor, within seconds, holding your spleen trying to stop yourself from laughing. And, of course, taking pleasure in the equally flippant steretypes called out in “Stuff Black People Like.”

This particular one hones in on the god-aweful, and professionally-condemning, names that some l(ess intelligent) black people proudly (or, defiantly) choose to name their poor, unsuspecting children.
..Then, of course, most grow up to proudly fulfill the social-stigma of their (a-hem) names(?).

What about Widespread Panic? White people love Panic, and though are plenty of ‘spreadheads’ — white people also love nicknames given to devout fans of a band — that stand nearly perfectly still, I’d say about 70 to 80 percent (white people also love percentages) of the audience is usually dancing, albeit badly and obnoxiously.
The “spiritual” spreadheads like to let everyone know how they are being moved by the music, like maybe they ‘get it’ more than everyone else, because, let’s face it: white people love to one up each other.

Yeah actually, there should be a post about “flailing” — an interesting style of dancing often seen at the heavily white person populated bluegrass/folk festivals and grateful dead / grateful dead cover band shows It isn’t like actual dancing at all but more like a rhythmic, meditative seizure. Not to say it isn’t fun, but its definitely a “thing” worth mentioning.

Most of the stuff on this list is pretty funny, but this just shows ignorance. Go to any punk/ska/metal/hardcore show and see if you can find ANY white person standing still. It doesn’t happen….unless you’re in Minneapolis, MN…their crowds are just lame.

White people love to visit places where people hate them but want their money.
Hawaii and Mexico instantly come to mind.
Because white people know instictively that many non-whites believe that all whites are closet racists or card carrying KKK members, there exists a need to prove otherwise.
Conscientious white people tend to overcompensate for this perception by going boldly (with plenty of cash) where they generally aren’t wanted-like Kanye West concerts.

“White people can’t dance” is a racist statement but whites
don’t complain because they still feel guilty about various historical events such as slavery, imperialism, Vanilla Ice Etc….

Also, saying that white people aren’t “good” dancers
is tantamount to saying that black people don’t have “good” hair.
The definitition of “good” dancing, like “good” food, music, style, company, beer etc. is completely left up to the tastes, biases, world views and sensibilities of the individuals who possess the power to discriminate and thereby judge for themselves the meaning of the word “Good”.
Good day sir.

Wait hold up for a minute. What kinda white ppl is the person who wrote this talking bout? I went to a rock concert…and no i dont know exactly what kinda rock it was…but they DO NOT stand still. There was three levels in the place we went. The place was shaped like a U and on the two upper levels you could just stand and watch but in the lowest level ppl was going crazy…even though i wanted to stand and watch i got pulled into the lower level AKA mosh pit. This band came out named A Day Remember and them lil white kids lost they minds. They started hitting each other, pushing, singing all intense, and screamin…I almost got crushed cuz I wasn’t into it. And no i aint seen a dance from em yet but to b fair i guess you cant dance to music like that.

This is so true. Last night i went to a local club to see some local acts including my cousin’s friend’s band and there were only a couple people dancing and everyone was making fun of them. Everyone else was standing completely still.

This all changes if you go to a metal concert. Everyone moves around and beats the shit out of each other, and the people standing still are called pussies. If you happen to be right in front of the stage, you are required to headbang most of the time or someone will probably punch you.

And once again, all this must be about the (off-)white Americans, not Europeans, say. I’m used to lots of dancing, or at least some movement, going on at most of the concerts that I go to (except concerts played in seated halls, of course), but the concerts that I’ve been to in the US really fell flat on their face. The Cardigans played in Boston while I lived there, and they were really great, with lots of energy, but the audience stood still, not getting into it at all, and my (Danish) friends and I got elbow jabs from people as we danced. Ah well, we had fun, the (Swedish) band had fun, and the 300 glum Americans at least got to hear, if not enjoy, the band. Maybe it’s just Boston that sucks, who knows? The entry #67 seems to indicate otherwise though.

I’m white and frequently dance to my heart’s content while at concerts. It bothers me when others don’t do the same. They just look bored.
This is probably why I usually go by myself. That way I don’t embarrass my friends.

When rock bands played the Fillmore, the Longshore Hall and other venues in SF in the sixties, the events were advertised as dances, and everybody (mostly white) danced. Then suddenly, as if at a signal, about 90% of the people attending started sitting down on the dance floor, leaving us who wanted to dance only the back corners to dance in. We eventually gave up.

Who says that white people stand still at concerts? As a black musician, I’ve found out that they can dance to ANYTHING! White people can even slow dance and not touch their partners as long as there’s a beat. I’ve seen white people dance to drum solos! I’ve seen white drunks dance to the beat of windshield wipers. Black people can’t dance to old songs, they have to do the latest dance on the scene, whereas I’ve noticed that white people have been doing the same ‘cripple’ step since I first started playing as a proffessional 45+ years ago and they don’t care because they’ve bought into the lie that black people have all the rhythym! The sad state of black ‘music’ has left the world with ‘music to scrap your knuckles to’ while you try to hold your pants up with the other hand!

This reminds of the scene in “Blow Up” where the lead character walks into a Yardbirds concert. Everyone is silently watching while only 2 couples are dancing, or trying to dance.http://www.poeticmotherlover.com

Yay….this is an especially apparant thing in white youth. Mostly in this group called ‘Emo’. They go to concerts and stand still…or sit. Personally, as a white youth myself, I always try to move to the music, however jerky and off it may look. I don’t do anything if the music sucks though. If that’s why white people don’t move then we should stop going to concerts that suck.

Reminds me of when I went to the Kanye West concert, while I was going all out on Stronger, the white kids next to me did nothing stand and stare at West. How can you not dance at a k. west concert? I’m sorry but the songs are so infectious that dancing needs to be done.

Ugh…why can’t people sit at concerts? Just because I love a band or a certain song doesn’t mean I want to dance to it. If I wanted to dance I’d go to a club. I can enjoy music perfectly well while sitting. Thanks.

It does get pretty annoying going to a show and seeing nobody dancing or moving, kinda creepy actually. Whats worse though is going to a show filled with music you can dance to and security tells you to sit down if you start dancing:S even if your not in anybodies way. I’m white but I must say dancing, moshing, thrashing or pretty much anything that requires moving should be a must at any live concert.

This among other sent me on a quest to find the Ni**er within. I was at a show by the late R.L. Burnside. He had a big alternative following from playing with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Hard booty shoveling blues! Non of the white alt kids (the entire <35 portion of the crowd and 95 % of the crowd overall) moved a muscle except to scowl at the dancers. They just got in the way of those of us who felt like dancing, the 2 or 3 blacks and the whites who were old enough to have lived with disco or who remember when eighties music was something more than a something safe for boring office people. Made me sick

This is the best comment i have ever read! So insightful and true. Modern black (urban) music is a shamefull evolution from the independant black music of the past. And have we forgotten true dance is the visulazation of emotion thru movment of the body, there is no wrong way to dance. ( though there are some akward people out there they are not defined by race) So if someone is worried of being judged by their method of dance, look at the sellout who is doing the judging and their store bought dances. and see whos really “keepin it real”

dear stuff white people like,
your blog makes me feel like my mom is secretly white. also i never realized how many not white friends i didn’t have. thank you, swpl. i hope acronyms is on your list.
sincerely,
Do Black And Asian Cancel Out To Be White in Delaware

Sometimes, though, we white people like to pretend that we’re dancing – typically when attending a show like “Fela!,” where standing totally still would draw too much attention. And then what will people do? They will make fun of you …

OMG….I must be part something else because I could ever stand still at a concert…..I can’t even stand still with my Ipod on!!!! Life would be such a bitch without music and dancing my ass offf……..My “white” husband, on the other hand, can’t dance, my first “white” husband couldn’t either. Has never bothered me, though……

This does not include hippies (whom are also mostly white); because hippies do not stand still at concerts.. i guess they may be on ecstasy, or some other drug which does indeed change everything…but i guess that would be something else that white people like
“going to camping/music festivals”

THANK YOU. Even though I am HIGHLY amused by this blog, this one is cutting out certain genres of music, namely Hardcore, Punk, and Ska. Moshing, skanking, circle pits (see also, moshing)!!!
Good times are to be had by all white people (or anyone else) attending a show by the likes of: Stretch Arm Strong, Strung Out, Comeback Kid, Rancid, Streetlight Manifesto, Shook Ones, Anti-Flag, etc etc etc… Definitely white people music, and DEFINITELY dance-worthy.

I actually could never understand why someone would go to a concert if you can’t dance (there are some exceptions, like classical). Even at home, I can’t listen to music without breaking a sweat or getting sore muscles.

Yes, Yes, i agree…..but this i think the ones who stand still the MOST are Black Americans…have you seen a rap concert ? 97.8 percent of the times, they just stand their and TRY to ACT COOL. when THEYRE not.

ok yes there are times when people stand still but that is usually during a slow part of the song at almost every concert i have been there there have been mosh pits (dont get me wrong i am not saying mosh pits are dancing) or some kind of unorginized movement like the wall of death a circle pit or many other thing “white people concerts” are the best things ever i mean i would much rather mosh or do something brutal then actually dance because that is not what “white” people music is for

Um, I don’t think a Belle and Sebastian show lends itself to a lot of dancing and moving around. Moshing also isn’t dancing–it’s organized brutality. Maybe I’m not listening to the right “white folk” music, but if my feet aren’t broken, I’m dancin’!

One of the things I hated about Bonaroo was the fact white people just stood there and I hated this because it’s fucking crowded and if you stand still to long your feet begin to fucking hurt. So dance or get the fuck out of the way and don’t fucking sit on the ground in the crowd or I will kick you what do you expect i didn’t see you you fucking tard.

Once, I went to see my friend;s band play at a small bar. It was mostly 30 something white people there, standing still for their performance. Once they were done another band started playing and my friend from Pakistan and my freind from Madagascar began to dance. The white people were amazed, glaring and smiling at my friends. One woman was so taken back she took pictures.

Once, I went to see my friend;s band play at a small bar. It was mostly 30 something white people there, standing still for their performance. Once they were done another band started playing and my friend from Pakistan and my freind from Madagascar began to dance. The white people were amazed, glaring and smiling at my friends. One woman was so taken back she took pictures.

I went to see a band in a small club in Denver and while everyone was standing around listening to the good music being played this one random woman in her 40s gets up and starts gyrating right by the stage in front of everyone. They weren’t playing music you could really dance to so this made the situation all the more weird. Needless to say no one joined her. She didn’t seem to care being the only one dancing for the entire 45-minute set.

Plus, her dancing was very bad. Think of Elaine from Seinfeld dancing and then having a seizure. That bad.

This one is SO true!! I just went to a concert two weeks ago and everyone was just sitting there. COMPLETELY still, not even singing along. I don’t get it!! It’s a concert!! Move, dance, have fun! LOL It cracks me up every time cuz my boyfriend and I will be the only people dancing or MOVING for that matter.

the comments posted on this blog are often funnier than the posts themselves- i’ve almost laughed myself to death a couple of times from the “i don’t understand this post” or “you guys suck” or “white people don’t do this” folks.
even funnier are the people hat try to counterpoint the posts-
hey MORON (didja see that- emoting in all caps)
stop taking yourself so seriously- you know that while you’re reading this you’re wearing New Balance sneakers (or Birkenstocks) and drinking bottled water while listening to the Smiths

[…] “yeahs.” Ezra Koenig, before teaching us, looked out at the audience (which had been standing still for the entirety of the 4 songs leading up to the moment) and asked, “do you guys do this? Are you into this?” Not really, but Vampire Weekend helped […]

Or to a Pogues gig – there you’ll have White People Dancing combined with St Patrick’s Day. In fact there’s a whole new category to be explored here – Irish-music-that-Irish-people don’t-listen-to-anymore.

I can’t tell you how many concerts I’ve been to where there’s always the obligatory white chick standing perfectly still, as if to say “I’m cutting edge yet still too sexy for this.” Either that or she’s banging the bass player. Or both.

I agree with you Suki – it’s a concert, if you’re not into busting out like crazy stay at home and put on the record 🙂 I personally don’t care if 20 people all around me are staring like crazy, I’ll still dance away happily – in fact even more so if that’s the case! And it always happens, I’ll be jumping around or whatever and usually amongst a pack of zombies, but then, I’m a musician, so I don’t see the point of standing still if something is moving you…

thats so true, people just stand there looking blank “feeling” the music, its so stupid. Its like dude why the hell did you pay to come if your just gonna act bored… maybe the not having rythm thing makes it kinda hard….

What’s wrong with going to a concert to listen to music!!?? If you’re a musician it seems strange to say you would prefer people stay at home and listen to the record in lieu of experiencing the art live. Surely you can understand that music sounds better live than on a recording.

I love to dance, and will frequently do it when listening to live music, but often i prefer to receive it, without having to engage my other mental faculties with physical movement, or singing along. And how many of us have been to a concert and there’s some dancing fool behind you/next to you who keeps bumping into you, spilling beer on you, singing out of tune in your ear to your favorite songs while you’re trying to hear how it’s meant to be heard, or even worse, showing their enthusiasm by whooping and hollering during softer, quieter songs. The last concert i went to, the “MOVING” people completely distracted from a quiet contemplative piece that i had been hoping to hear live for months. If i’m going to a concert, i’m going to listen to the artists, which i paid hard-earned money to see, express themselves through the craft they have honed, not be distracted by the tone def yahoo with no rhythm who can’t mind the personal space of others and my desire to not reek of beer.

Saying people who don’t want to move around in tight quarters surrounded by a large number of other people should stay at home and listen to a CD is just as lame as me saying that all people who like to dance to music instead of giving it their full attention should do the same. Music is for everyone and everyone experiences it differently, to not move is not to be not moved, so simply enjoy!

Now the people who go out to dance clubs and just stand around on the other hand…

I very much agree with the above comment. Well said. If you really wanted to make an accurate generalization about white people, you could have said that they are more likely to go to a dance club and not dance. THAT really does annoy me about people, and it IS way more common amongst white people.

I can’t go out to a club without hearing at least one black person at some point during the night say, “she’s a white girl and she can dance!”

I like going to concerts where you can get crazy and mosh. So, imagine my surprise when someone took my to a raidohead concert and everyone actually was standing still!! The whole damn concert nobody moved except the one guy on LSD who was tweeking out. I got so bored I tried to crowd surf and people looked at me like I had just punched an infant. This “standing still at concerts” thing is totally true and bizarre. If I wanted to stand around an listen to music I would just listen to my ipod, not pay $80 dollars and stand in a crowd full of sweaty weirdos.

Oh My goodness! I couldn’t help but laugh at this one. It is entirely true. Living in Austin, Tx, there are plenty of opportunities to see, and listen to live music. What is entertaining is watching how people react to the music. Don’t get me wrong, I’m white, and love concerts. I do like to watch, sometimes I’ll stand still, other times, I’ll move to it. What I do notice is the vast majority of the other white people in the audience tend to enjoy standing completely still, as if in a trance.
What makes a concert is actuall enjoying the concert/ live show, getting into it, walking around, talking to people, dancing, smoking (legal and non legal), drinking and being part of the experience. When I go with friends, some will stand as still as a post, others will dance as if the music was punching them all over. Very funny stuff.

One weekend I got stuck in Indianapolis and went to a carribbean restaurant. I saw a flyer a dance being put on by the carribbean american association or something. It was the only time I ever truly danced at a show and it was because my friend and I were the only white folks so we felt like if we *didnt* dance then we would be watched and laughed at rather than celebrated for being the white girls who came from out of nowhere.

Notice that same gal usually has a HUGE freakin’ purse on her shoulder which takes up another body width…

…and seems to think that IF she shows any interest (or rhythm) EVERYONE is gonna look at her. Doesn’t she know that it’s because she’s NOT moving we’re looking at her?

Hmmm… maybe that’s her game plan after all.

All I say is:

It’s LIVE: We, the audience, are to show appreciation, not stand there simply to be entertained – a la TV… In fact, WE are an integral part of the performance.
Dance. It’s good for you!
Smile. Everyone appreciates that.
Performers dig to see themselves being enjoyed – show it.

I love to dance! I am the brown girl jumping around like there is something wrong with her. My favorite is standing right up with the shy “still” people and dancing and getting them to dance and then leaving and they stop! Try it it does work!

If the tickets are really spendy and it’s a Dave Matthews show, then the uber cool white guys will play hackey sack in the rear of the venue and act oblivious to the tunes.
Gotta go now, I don’t want to be late for yoga.

omg- as a white girl for 42 years I never new this!! This must be a new ‘white rule’. When I started going to concerts in the 80s (yes I still love the 80s, duh, I’m white) me and my white friends danced our butts off!

In the early 90s I saw Sting in Miami; and (after a ‘concert-going-hiatus’ of several years) I was flabbergasted when people were just sitting or around. Now when I saw the Police in Detroit back in the early 80s, we tore it up! I thought it was a Miami vs Detroit thing. But since then I have witnessed this, in my mind, crazy phenomenon over and over!

In the words of my friend Anita (who happens to be black :] ), Sometimes I just don’t get my people

Now that maybe so for them Wussy Concerts…. But the Country ones you dont stand still…. If you do you will get Pissed on and Tabbaca spat on and puked on.. or end up in a fight for blockin the View! You gotta keep moving! Heck if you dont you might miss the Topless Line wave the Hotties do in the back rows! Nope that must be one of them Cure concerts… where the fellas wear that heavy makeup like Grandma on sunday. Standing still is for Wussys.

HAHA, really now? So, every weekend, when I go to shows, I’m just imagining all of the white people moving about and dancing? Now black people, I never see them in the pit…or at shows at all. And the shows are in a city that’s maybe 60% black? yeah, fuck you.

yeah bell & sebastian/of montreal/arcade fire aren’t really danceable bands. Obviously if you are at a Brand New show people are going to be in the pit. The point is that white people like music that can’t be danced to, and emo music that can only be danced to badly. That’s why there are no black people at those shows. Black people know how to dance, not waste time standing around.

I’m 15 and only went to one concert and you’re right. No one danced until the end and even then it was just jumping in place. They just kinda moved around a little so I just filmed the whole concert clearly…from the floor. The ground fucking floor. That’s really saying something.

I’m sure people have mentioned the Grateful Dead, but most in the crowd just noodle around, which is fine and dandy. Go to any show by a band like the Disco Biscuits or Sound Tribe Sector Nine or Brothers Past or any number of electronic influenced groups and 99% of the crowd is white and throwing down like maniacs. There are exceptions, but of course there are many types of white people! We are versatile!

I think the author should add Radiohead to his list of things that white people like or at least reference them in this or the indie rock article. Every pretentious white person I have ever met considers Radiohead to be the best band in the history of human existence. However, if you truly want to offend the avid Radiohead fan, ask them what their favorite Radiohead album is – whatever their answer is, you should respond that your favorite Radiohead album is “Pablo Honey” and that you really like that song “Creep.” Pablo Honey was Radiohead’s first album and Creep was a massively successful single, which is often played at major sporting events or commercial festivals. This will offend the Radiohead fan due to the fact that they consider Radiohead to be the major anti-establishment musical act of our time and since Radiohead’s first album was such a commercial success and is known by the “wrong kind of white people” they will take this comment very personally.

I agree – they’re all shifting aroung furiously trying to light their bongs. Apparently they need to kill massive amounts of brain cells to take their minds off the fact they paid $80 to listen to that garbage.

fuck moshes, have you ever seen a white dude with dread locks tripping their face off with acid? they dont stop dancing… even when the music is done and they are eating their vegan granola bars… now if this concert was john mayer, or buckcherry then no… its gay to dance but if youre tripping balls dancing is mandatory

People who attend metal concerts are the wrong kind of white people. If you say you like metal/hardcore around the type of white people this blog is targeting you will be met with awkward silence, exasperated sighs and pitying stares (mostly because they know they will be unable to impress you with their incomparable musical knowledge and because you know many obscure bands that they do not). The group will then judge you as being uninformed, immature, provincial and brutish. The conversation will then turn to how corporations rape poor countries (even though multi-national corporations sponsor the various outdoor concerts which these individuals frequent) and how great free health care would be in the United States (although this view is mostly held by douche-bag white people who only want socialized medicine so they can continue working part-time at a coffee house/not-for-profit/non-chain restaurant and avoid obtaining a full-time job that provides health insurance, which would rob them of their free time to write poetry/blog/read leftist literature/find annoying liberal youtube videos to email to their friends).

[…] have been reflecting recently that all of the music I like is exceedingly white. I usually stand still at concerts, too. [↩]Cue groans from the audience [↩]That song also happens to have one of my […]

[…] my wang in spandex was everything ancillary to the music. Most notably, the textbook case study in Stuff White People Like #67: standing still at concerts. Seriously, this is David Bowie you guys. It’s hard not to get down to David Bowie, no matter how […]

“and how great free health care would be in the United States (although this view is mostly held by douche-bag white people who only want socialized medicine so they can continue working part-time at a coffee house/not-for-profit/non-chain restaurant and avoid obtaining a full-time job that provides health insurance, which would rob them of their free time to write poetry/blog/read leftist literature/find annoying liberal youtube videos to email to their friends).”

as opposed to working hard at Applebees full time, listening to metal, and getting spotty health coverage from a chain? You disgust me you brute!

Thing is BigFrank what DeLay said is pretty much how the rest of the country feels about the white people described here. It is kind of the reason that nobody except white children of privileged parents who want to stand up to the man by blogging or save the planet by recycling are taken seriously by each other and nobody else on the planet…

Thanks DeLay for working so hard! I’m a douche-bag white PhD who really can’t stand working more that 3 days a week. But the jokes on you since what I earn in 3 days take you 9 days to earn! Ha ha ha. Then I lounge around at the ‘Zone drinking coffee and discussing the latest MOMA retrospective – while your busy paddling your little boat up the creek.

I can’t wait for that socialized medicine so all the lazy bums can get coverage. It’ll happen, not matter how loudly the DeLays of the world scream their tirades – at this point it’s a lock.

What PnP doesn’t realize the only reason that “the rest of the country” feels that way is because they’re idiots. And he’s just speaking out of his ass about “[everybody] else on the planet”, something tells me he’s never been to any european country at all, or even out of his native state of texas.

as someone who lived in europe for 22 years, i can safely say that universal healthcare was one of the most wonderful luxuries i had, and it’s something i truly miss.

oh that takes the cake!!!!!!!!!!!!
paying a lot of money to attend a concert so you can act cool playing hackysack ,like you don’t even care about the band? And for that matter, do any hackysack players EVER play somewhere where there are no people to watch them play. WHat about playing in their own fenced backyards? No, always somewhere where they can say, (without saying it) look how cool I am, I’m playing hackysack. The best thing to do is to not acknowledge them in any way

LOL!
oh is that what the standing still is about, “feeling the music? I’m going to an April Wine concert in Toronto in a few months and never thought about people not dancing, until now. If the people in the seats next to me aren’t dancing, I’m going to exit the row and dance in the aisle, I swear, because this band ROCKS! I have seen a few recent live videos and I do see a lot of people dancing, so hopefully it will be good at this concert.
Oh well, I guess I’m the wrong type of white person, because I also don’t have bangs

That’s SO true, everywhere you go there is the pretty girl who is standing (in the front row, no less) like a statue, and with such an unfriendly unhappy expression. You’re right, it’s to get people to look at her, and she is probably trying to get the band to notice her too. She went to the trouble of getting the front row ticket, and now she can’t even smile once during the entire concert?

I was at a concert the other night and every time people started punching everyone started to yell and scream wtf is going on im going to punch those people who are pushing!! Come on its a concert, people are going to push.

Congrats, you won the “Most retarded Statement of the Day” award. And may I quote “Music can bring the mind places in more sophisticated manners than dancing.” That would have been okay, but the addition of “We’ve passed the tribal stage” completely tarnished the lame point you were trying to make.
Just because retards like Soulja Boy exist, doesn’t make dance any less “sophisticated”. Granted, not all good music requires dancing, but to claim that not dancing is some form of progression is just plain stupid. And frankly, makes you sound like a douche.

I thought it was weird to be shushed and told to sit down at Paul McCartney (decidedly white)(and old, I guess). But I was also shushed and told to sit down at the Super Bowl. What do you make of that?

I was shushed and told to sit down at the Paul McCartney concert! So I turned and told the guy “dude, you’re at a rock and roll show!”, to which other residents of my row responded by also standing up and dancing, one even telling the man behind me that I can do whatever I want because I am enjoying the show.

I went to see The Shins perform about 3 months ago. Many of their fans are white, so the whole room was still (it was even standing room format!). I’m not complaining though. Most of their songs are impossible to dance to. Plus, the lack of pushing made it easy to take great pictures of the band. 😀

try stopping by a place called houge barmichaels in newport beach on a saturday night.
then try telling me this -> So when white people go to concerts at smaller venues, what to do they do? They stand still!

Not that this observation is true . . . but I’m afraid white people are damned if they do, damned if they don’t on this one. Ya’ll got a rep for bad rhythm, especially the uptight protestant dudes, so you’re not really expected to dance . . . except for Kevin Bacon, but he needs a whole warehouse to himself.

True how true! I am white, I can’t dance, I either stand still or I bob just a bit so as not to get made fun of… very sad not to be able to enjoy the beat of my own drum except in the privacy of my own home

Concerts, tennis matches and movie theatres are for very civilized white people. Don’t dare excuse yourself “loudly” to use the restroom and come back cutting through the seat rows. No wonder we can’t stand going to these spots, we know nobody should “ruin” it or distract us from viewing, then we don’t wanna be accused of rudeness or other hyper-sensitivity to minor etiquette mistakes we all make (not me, but you and everyone). +

Americans inherit this from 1800’s victorian England on how to act “properly” or “civilized”, compared to the wild crazy emotional tempered etc. non-Anglo Europeans (France?). To go into plays and movies are one thing, but in sports games and concerts it is tolerated to be cheering. This isn’t church, school or work…this is fun! Be loud and proud. +

What’s with manners anyway when everyone seems “rude” than ever before? Sheesh…try to drive on a road, get cut or flipped, and the worst part is the traffic light intersection. To stand still is to show some respect, if you’re in a hard rock or hip-hop concert…you’re gonna look like a dweeb xD

max, any ideas to take home with you from Old Europe? America is full of “new ideas” and California is “radical” than the traditional back east. Nowadays, the whole world views America as a tribal warrior looking to fight and California as an unrealistic way of life…and both I happen to agree. +

Lamb of God? Was this the 2008 Coachella Music fest? I manage to be there this year. Sheesh, I was present in the crowd. I passed the whiteness test, but waited 10 years to get in once in my life. Everyone was freaking out in the 100 plus degree heat. ROCK ON! +

Are there a few black people in hard rock bands, but the soft Hootie and the Blowfish appeals to folks like SWPL. I knew the story of American punk in the late 1970s Los Angeles after branching out its British roots had a huge following among Hispanic/Chicano rockers at the time. +

Yee haw! Country-western music is one of the kind of genres one can really dance, move about and sing in tongues (the redneck southern Christian stereotype). Play the fiddle hot, boy. (thinks of “The Devil went down to Georgia”) +

Learn a lesson from Mel Brooks on the founders of movies, music & TV, as well a majority of actors or performers.
If there wasn’t the Jews, the Gypsies and the Gays,
You wouldn’t have entertainment…
and you won’t have Hollywood.
He forgot to add the Black dancers, but we get the picture.
And Will Rogers is a famed Cherokee-Indian/white cowboy mixture of an entertainer (comedian and writers) was one of the first residents of Beverly…Hills, that is. +

i don’t appreciate kids bopping up and down in front of me when i’m trying to experience the music of bands like Mogwai. one glance from me at the concert of my favorite bands will put the fear of God into you. why would you dance unless you’re at a Britney Spears concert?

True, funk gets in your bones. On the flipside, metal will make a white guy move. Being that we can’t actually dance, we just slam into each other. Come to think of it, we’ve always liked our music fast, too! Ever since the days of classical (“flight of the bumblebee” anyone?). Fast novelty-piano styles, fiddle music, bluegrass, punk, metal & then some techno styles (like gabba). Gotta be fast & hasta march somewhat (must be something in our dna). I think sometimes (especially w/ punk, this what to make up for not knowing how to play their guitars..lol)

Why is it so cool to write about how uncool white people are? Who places that cool bar? And why isn’t this considered “painting with a broad brush” or stereotyping? Here is what this post would look like had it been written about black people. Does anyone have a problem with this? Is this cool?

Music is very important to black people. It truly is the soundtrack to their lives, meaning that black people are constantly thinking about what songs would be on the soundtrack for the biopic. The problem is that most of the music that black people like is really dance-friendly. More often the songs are about guns, money, jewelry, prostitutes, gangsters, etc.

So when black people go to concerts at smaller venues, what to do they do? They dance! This is an important part of black concert going as it enables you to focus on the dancing, and it will draw excess attention to you. Remember, at a concert everyone is watching you just waiting for you to start dancing.

The result is Kanye and Lil Wayne concerts that essentially looks more like a nightclub than a music event.

If you find yourself invited to a concert with a black person, expect to dance. Prepare yourself for three hours of dancing. It is also not advised to get a beer or (if legal) a cigarette so you have something to do with your hands. And it is not acceptable to occasionally raise one hand and point just above the stage.

i think it’s safe to assume we’re talking about indie or alternative gigs here, and it’s true, but there’s always one or two people(not drunk) dancing like retarded religious freaks, with a big space around them. it is not the done thing to look like you’ve been laughing at them, or pay any attention to them at all. for the best cases of this, go to an ‘ATP’ festival (there might be a post about atp somewhere on this blog already), when i went to one we counted more sonic youth ‘goo’ t shirts, than black people. smaller venues(cafe oto, dalston) frown at talking during gigs too.

Dude, how is it not funny? i mean yah its a stereotype, no ones saying it isnt, but we’ve been basing comedy on stereotypes for years, and still do…. im white, and its pretty funny to me i dunno, but if u dont like it, dont read it.

Bahh, the “white men can’t dance” myth was made up by uptight puritanical immigrants 300 years ago and you are still buying into it!!?!! Too bad sucker. I’ll be shaking my white ass whenever I fell the groove, taunting all you wankers on the sidelines.

yea, man. it’s so cool. it’s refreshing to let loose and dog white people without fearing political retribution. it’s funny too, damned funny. and oh so true when you think about it. it’s all so true. too bad, most of it soUNDS LIKE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ME!ARRRRRGGGGHHH!

i hate that no one dances at little venues. I dance 🙂
and not crazily.
because i feel like it would be so sad to be a musician and look out over a bunch of people standing still and nodding their heads (with the occasional finger point/ fist raise) .

this post has always bothered me and i’ve finally decided to respond to it. i totally disagree with you hear.

the “real white people” generally referred to on this site (aka. hipsters) do NOT stand still at concerts. as i have noticed some mention, check out a jam band.. you won’t see many standing still at a dead, phish, string cheese, widespread panic show!! you will, however, see our wayfarers, granola, metal water bottles, and camp gear.

in my opinion, the white people who go to these metal/emo/whatever it is you are referring to hear, are not, as you refer to them, the “right kind of white people”..

this is so true to be honest. the majority of us just moves a bit on the beat, not too much, a beer and a cigarette are essential so we are at least doing something that makes us look like rather cool guys instead of still standing nerd-o’s.

Some of us don’t give a shit though and since most of us can’t dance it looks rather funny. But who cares.

If people stand still at concerts, they are either really lame people, really lame concerts, or both. Some of the best music is music you can get into and dance to, so why not. Sometimes at metal concerts I find I’m one of the only ones with long hair who is headbanging and getting into the music along with the band, and this is disturbing because they’re giving a bad name to the music by not getting into it like they should.

wow- gotta love socially acceptable racism and ignorantly bunching the lot of every person in a single race as doing the exact same thing. Would people be mad if there was sight called ‘stuff black people like’?…i guess depended on who made it.

Do metal heads count as white people??? Does a bear s**t in the woods?!?! And you know you fit into at least a few of the other categories… maybe not all but at least a few.
And there are exceptions to the metal heads counting as white people—ie lead singer of Sevendust

I has a similar experience recently but I was foolish enough to be under the influence of LSD. I felt like I had walked into a free-masons meeting or something, hordes of people staring at their feet in silence.

I dont think you understand the website. It’s about stuff white people do because they think it’s what should be done. Dancing like an idiot is expressing yourself regardless of thought so doesn’t fall under this category.

I will probably be ejected from my race for letting this out but no matter, I feel a need to finally tell the truth about this one as I have but days to live from my ongoing bout with cancer. Not that the truth will matter much, as I will explain.

Concerts are really a cover for something much deeper and, perhaps more sinister than you can imagine. The fact is we have our own secret language which signals insiders to what new trends and fads we will be taking up in the next year. All of this is conveyed through a complex series of clothing choices and subtle moves through meetings the rest of the world would naturally assume is casual concert going. If you’re dancing around at a concert like some aboriginal preparing to hunt down a seal, kangaroo or other indigenous creature we know you’re not of full European descent. But we don’t worry because we know our secret language is too subtle for the aboriginal mind to pick up on. I don’t have the space here but I’ll share a couple.

One of the signs is the “hands in pockets”. To an outsider this might look like some rhythmless guy who doesn’t know what to do with his appendages, but in reality he’s telling others: “We keep a secret, as the pocket is dark and hidden, but we are united and safe in unity as our hands are warm in the lining of our cotton pockets.” I can’t describe the comfort we feel when we see one of our own with his hands in his pockets during a concert. It’s like we’ve made it back to the spawning grounds.

Another sign is the cigarette lighter. Again, to casual observers this mean something as mundane as ‘rock on’ when it really means “We are the pure white light of the world and our race will enlighten everyone in it’s search for the true meaning of life.” People were catching onto this so we decided to use a new symbol for the same thing. If you keep a static cling Dave Mathews Band sticker on your back window you know what I’m talking about. Like the lighter, we change symbols whenever we feel someone is on to us. This may explain to you why it’s no longer cool to go to U2 concerts, wear acid wash jeans or play hackeysack around campus with your buddies.

So what you see is really a series of communications so subtle it baffles and mystifies the rubes who can only wonder what we might do next. Ed Hardy t-shirt wearers, backward cap guys, I’m talking to you.

White people often have no sense of rhythm and they know it, (but we are not allowed to mention this because it leads to a racial stereotyping conversation and everyone feels bad especially if they are shit dancers which usually they are)… anyway, as a result dancing is a risk-taking behaviour for them which is uninsurable. Most white people are very close to actually doing the deed, but they are engaged in a mental dispute over it and no-one is there to referee. I am a genetic freak being apparently white and having rhythm and having freaky tight curly hair which is very effective at blocking out lots of people’s vision in crowds as I am also tall. But people are nice to me about it because it is not clear if I am black or white, but I have been assured that in South African apartheid I would be black. Despite the confusion of identity I do engage in dancing (and I tend to dance to a bassline and therefore not so much if opera is on), anyway often I am the only person doing it. People have sometimes asked me if I am a professional dancer. As dancing is a metaphor for sex, this can be embarassing. So it’s best to not think about it. (Thanks for messing my life up just that bit more than it already was).

I’m white, and I don’t stand still. I mosh. Which, depending on the concert/show, pisses some other white people off. For example, I went to an All-American Reject/ Taking Back Sunday concert and tried moshing. The girl in front of me in her pink holister shirt and $60 jeans kept bitching “If this person bumps into me one more time, I’m going to kick her ass.” Which, of course, she did not. Nor did she try. Lol. I just laughed at her.

Except white gay men. Now white gay men can dance. Just go to a gay bar with dance mix music and you’ll see this phenomenon for yourself. However, I am the exception because I’m gay and can’t dance for shit. I dance like a silly white boy. LOL!

this is awesome–love this blogger. so, so true. i like a lot of white ppl music but truly, so much of it is undanceable…whenever i’m at a so-called “dance” party w/ my white hipster friends and they turn on the music, i’m like, how can ya’ll dance to this stuff?

the weirder thing though is whenever i’m at a concert where the music is actually TOTALLY danceable but the audience has a high concentration of white ppl in attendance (i live in a not-so-diverse southern city) and everyone’s just standing there in a zen-like meditative state with, as you say, the occasional fingerpointing. alternatively,i was just at an african music concert w/ a high concentration of white peeps in the audience, and it was awesome! granted, no one was dancing in rhythm, but they were shakin it without caring who was going to make fun of their skillz. w00t!

#1 I think I’d rather be stuck with the stereotype of not being able to dance than the stereotype of beating women, drug dealing, and being in and out of prison my entire life.

#2. Why would you go to an emo/depressio-rock show? It’s obviously not dancing music. I’m white and I think the music is utterly stupid. Try reggae or ska if you want to find white people dancing. Go to emo shows if you want to find little depressed kids swaying back and forth.

#3. Don’t write stupid blogs like this, it only serves to perpetuate my prejudice of blacks.

ahahahahahha i love the note. too true. i went to Coachella this year and I remember laughing at this group of like sixteen year old white girls who were standing perfectly still, in a circle.. just chatting. really? I mean, I’m white too, but i was rolling all over the place, so yeah.. i danced..

The worst was a PJ Harvey concert and I was amazed at the audience, bunch of nutters trying to get closer to their idol, rather freaky experience. Some were passing around joints but it didnt mellow the crowd at all, just made them even stranger. *Shudders*

beating other people, its called moshing, its not supposed to be dancing , its for people that have actually grown a pair and decided not to listen to country or (c)rap. if you have ever been to any real metal concert they wont be screaming about killing themselves for break ups (that’s for the fags that wear tight jean because they haven’t really dropped a pair) theyre screaming about killing fags like you who deserve to die. fuck i spent to much time on this.

Funnily enough, Belle & Sebastian are originally from Glasgow, a town in which even the pretentious art school kids won’t let even indie credibility interfere with their god-given right to be drunk and rowdy. White people of America: if you want to be truly ‘authentic’ at a Belle & sebastian concert, shout obscenities and throw a beer at Stuart Murdoch or something. It’ll probably make him feel at home.

LOL I used to work as a musician, and what I remember watching the “WP” do is fist pump, throw drugs to each other and the band, and usually between approximately 8:45 and 10:20 p.m., start breaking out into fights leading to the police being called, at which point my bodyguards would grab me and run off to someplace safe. That pattern was extremely consistent. So in truth, “WP” like to fight at concerts. 🙂

I know quiet a few ‘necks and “(C)rap music” listeners who can clean the fuck out of you metal listening white boys. by experience, you fucks are the ones that have all the talk and none of the backup.

bwahahahaha! So true! The finger point–and the iluvyou sign-language hand. Although it seems like the sign of true fandom is staring intensely at the singer, and if you’re right next to the stage, leaning on the stage with your arms crossed….and if the music becomes actually danceable, your dance equates jumping up and down for about 10 seconds (that is, if other people are also jumping up and down).

I’m pretty white. Okay, maybe I’m very white. And I go LOTS of shows. I never stand still! I always dance. But you’re right about most white show-goers. I always wonder why they paid all the money for the tickets to just stand there and look bored. Most of them don’t even smile like they are the slightest bit excited to see the band.

Of course they smile at their friends as they talk and talk and talk over the music, annoying the crap out of all us rockin white people trying to enjoy the show.

This is for everyone, whatever color: when you go see a show at an indoor, smallish venue, SHUT UP! or go outside. or go stand at the back of the crowd. No one paid to hear your stupid story about what happened at lunch earlier. No one wants to hear your first date banter. SHUT UP! You aren’t in the band I paid to see.

Sooo true! When I went to my first concert in NA, I was shocked and very dissapointed. The artist was amazing but all these people just stood there doing nothing! I for one ran to be close to the stage and started dancing (an easy move since no one was moving). Nothing like going to a concert in Latin America!

So true. I went to an Interpol concert at the United Palace Theater up in Harlem. White people everywhere were just standing around, some even sat in the plush seats for most of the concert.
White people also love blogging about waiting in line. Don’t believe me? check out: http://www.inlinewaiting.com/ tell your story about being cavity searched by the TSA or waiting in line on Black Friday for that new peacoat and wayfarers.

eh…i mostly listen to rockish stuff. so i really cant say that people can DANCE to that.

BUT i have NEVER been to a concert where people just stand still. there arent really people DANCING (theres always one or two that find a way to actually dance to it) but theres ALOT of jumping around and moshing, crowd surfing..which i guess has to be the equivalent of dancing in rock genres.

one time there was actually this japanese polka-rock band as the warm up act on-stage (yes. i know. but it wasnt that bad) and everyone there sort of made up a dance to it on the spot .

i dont know what concerts you guys go to but honestly ive never seen or heard or people standing absolutley still at concerts.

This is why I hate rock music, in fact basically any white music that comes from America within the past few generations.

What’s worse is that white American culture permeates the world, so it infects other cultures throughout the globe to listen to similarly terrible music genres. Scandinavians are the whitest of the white, so it’s no surprise that ‘death metal’ and other terrible stuff emanating from electric guitars is all the rage over there. Chinese listen to mellowed-down white music, which is absolutely impossible to dance to because it’s so slow and girly.

I love rock music, I do not stand still at a concert but I do not dance. It is called a mosh pit….. and who dances at a concert, what is the point of going to a concert why not just go to a bar and listen to a dj. If you go to a concert you should be watching the performance that is going on. I agree, I hate it when people just stand there but if I saw people dancing all up on eachother I would be the wtf too, So either way you lose. I do not understand why people do not realize that no matter the color of your skin everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No matter what race you are.

White people, well all people, also enjoy http://www.NakedHipster.com. Mainly because the girls are hot and don’t have clothes on. Usually those two things go well together. You know, the hotness and the nakedness.
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I love most things on this list, but I absolutely hate this one. In fact, I advise you all to join my Facebook group: “If you want to stand still at a concert, stay the fuck away from the front!”.
Now that I think about it, I might have had to use another word than fuck, but something to that effect.

You may not like my music, but I can say the same thing about your “music.” A genre permeated by people who insist on not writing their own background music. These “musicians” only write the lyrics, and sing it over a beat. The only part written by them doesn’t even contain musical notes. So sorry that you think music should be dumbed down to the same 4 notes over and over again. As for death metal, it’s a genre for people who actually like the MUSIC part of music. And also like their music hard and fast. Sure, it’s fun to dance, but it’s also fun to make fun of the guy who’s shaking his hips more like a girl than the girls. Sue me for not being moved by the same beat that you like. Freedom of speech allows us to listen to whatever we like. and comment on idiot posts like this. I may not like rap that often, but it doesn’t stop me from having a few rap songs that I actually enjoy, or considering my friend’s opinion on a rap song. And if you’re talking about R&B, which I assume you are because of the A+ in your post next to it, then shame on you for calling Chinese music girly.

I am an old school black guy who partied hard in the 70s and the 80s. I could usually tell where a white chick or guy was from by the way they dance. The more urban influence whites could move and groove with the best. As a matter of fact some of the best dancers in my circle of friends were white chicks who many cases had black friends and were hip to the scene. But on the other hand you would sometimes get these kids from the suburbs who besides looking afraid in the dance clubs appeared to did not know how to let themselves go with the music. I always thought that it was weird and somehow sad.

I was in Amsterdam once and a Prince song came on and the people in the club (Dutch, German, French, Caribbean, etc.) got up in mass and dance the night away. I have come to the conclusion that this white people don’t dance thing is definitely an American thing. There is something in the white American culture that seems to prevent them from moving their bodies in public to the sound of a good beat. Maybe they are too cerebral. I want to quickly point out that this is not all whites but certainly the overwhelming majority based upon my 64 years of living and partying.

Nonsense, I’ve seen “white people” freakin’ dance till they drop….literally. I’m the dancing person on the concert, really I have never seen a person stand still during a live performance. I like to think it is pointless going to a concert if you’re going to stand still during a music performance. Heck, I pay a lot of money to go a concert so I might as well literally dance till I drop. 🙂

Also, it depends what kind of musical performance you’re at. Say Opera or a musical performance by artists who play violins and guitars, you can not actually expect a person to just stand up and randomly dance to the violin in the middle of the performance….lol. The watchful audience will not only hate the random dancing bloke on a violin concert but will murder the bloke with eyes that kill. Lmao.

The only time I’ve ever been to a show and NOT danced was when I had broken my ankle and was on crutches… even then I was still swaying back and forth a little but never just standing around…

If you’re going to a concert to just stand around then you are obviously in the wrong place… Music is ment to move the body and there isn’t anything better than getting a good work out while hearing great tunes and flailing around like you’ve just eaten 6 hits of acid…

as far as the Ecstasy side note: If the music is good enough, you don’t need drugs to enjoy yourself.

If you do need ecstasy to have a good time then that means the lights are better than the beats coming out of the speakers.

Um, I’ve been to a few “white” rock concerts, and not once did I see most people standing still. A lot of my friends and I go in the mosh, and you sure as hell don’t stand still there! In fact, most “white” rock concerts are incredibly active in some sense, and the band will even encourage it with interacting with the crowd in some way, the “white” band I might add.

The post is correct. Proper white people want to listen to the music live without all that nonsense. Chairs are for sitting, and are much more comfortable than standing. And hopping around like a bunch of monkeys is so low brow! Have a little respect for yourself! You CAN overcome your lesser urges and join us in the civilized world!

This post is referring to a certain type of white devil 🙂 the urbanized, hipster, educated, cultured, middle class kind. I don’t like this set too much. If you dance around them, they tend to grasp their cans o’ Pabst just a little tighter and it gets pretty tense. (God I hate San Diego.)

[…] on that, and not trying to play into stereotypes, the dancing here is magnificent. There’s no standing still at concerts here; almost everyone I met loves to move. And people dance differently, too. You know how […]

This is true for me atleast. Im a metalhead and all my white friends headbang and mosh. But im a prog metal/prog rock fan(which I guess makes me whiter still) And im perfectly fine enjoying the harmonies and the little intricacies of the music wiyhout moving about.

I enjoy finding the black people who jump about and stand behind them close with my cock out through my zipper. When the dance about they will bump into my cock which makes me jizz but its kind of like they did it. So who’s gay now?

[…] one to distract from his musicianship with banter, Ward still got a few laughs out of a jovial (if stoic) audience. Early on, perhaps sensing the absence of Rachel Blumberg behind the kit, Ward introduced […]

I don’t know if the generalization applies broadly to white people, or even if it’s aptly restricted to white people. But standing still at concerts is definitely a Thing Toronto Hipsters Like. Ideally, it’s done with your iPhone in your uplifted hand. This allows you to (a) show everyone your iPhone, and (b) get some crappy concert footage you can dance to alone, in your house, later on.

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Black guy here! I’m into just about all types of music. I went to a lot of concerts and festivals last year and it’s true, most of the people there do stand almost completely still. Depending on which artist is playing, I like to hang back on the lawn so I can dance around & not worry about running into ppl. Still didn’t stop some douchebag at Treasure Island from getting annoyed with me. He apparently put his middle finger up beside my head & held it there laughing. I had my hood on so I couldn’t see, but my friends kind of looked at him like ” dude, we are gonna kick your ass if you don’t get out of here” and he walked off.

So I guess I agree; generally, white ppl don’t like to dance… in front of other ppl. And it might piss them off to see you having TOO good a time dancing on your own. Love the site btw.

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When I go to a concert, it’s too see the musicians that I love perform their craft. If I’m dancing the whole time, I’m gonna miss a lot of what I went there to see. I can dance to the records at home. I don’t, but I could if I wanted to and if I liked dancing at all, which I don’t.

[…] #67 Standing Still at Concerts | Stuff White People Like – Maybe White People like to stand still because it is just so depressing to be at a concert in America, the wealthiest country on the face of this planet. […]

Ok then the stereo type for black people is that black music is about screwing, screwing someone over, how they hate the man,depression, killing, stealling, dont forget time in jail and vanity. Plus at a concert you are likely to get shot. Your stereo type of middle “americans” I believe some. But do know any real white people. Or the races of middle America that fits your stereo types. One class of people will always see the others faults and exploit them. It’s not so much a race war but a class war. No one wants to be poor but ganrateed that if you give them enough money they become what they talked shit about.

[…] crowd, including his endless ribbing of one particular person on the front row who apparently read Stuff White People Like as a guide to gig etiquette – occupying a barrier spot in order to film the entire thing on […]